Another Woman's Child
by Sihaya
Summary: AU. Amidala wasn't Luke and Leia's mother, but someone just like her was...
1. Chapter One

Another Woman's Child 

Disclaimers: everything belongs to the great George Lucas, who made up all this shyt in the first place. We just improvise on it. 

Dedicated to Alex A'lex Alastriana Mac Queen Curses-Like-A-Sailor Dubchana, who doesn't even know what an 'Obidalah' or a 'Padme' is. Also dedicated to Good Charlotte, for no particular reason. 

Chapter One

            Anakin peered around the corner into the dark hallway. Two figures stood at the end of the corridor, talking in hushed tones. He strained to hear what they were saying. One of the figures turned. A cloak swirled around his feet and the dim light glinted off the handle of a lightsaber. Anakin's hands crept towards his own, dancing over the metal and the rounded switch that would activate the deadliest weapon in creation- 

            "What was that?" said the woman. Her head turned towards Anakin's hiding place. Anakin gripped the saber blade recklessly, barely restraining himself from activating it and slicing the couple right down the middle. He could hear the weapon humming in his hands, the red blade cutting molecules right out of the air.

            The beads hanging off the woman's headdress clicked as she turned her head worriedly back to the Jedi. 

            "Don't worry," said the Jedi. _Obi-Wan!_ Anakin realized, gritting his teeth. _How could he!_

            "Obi-Wan," said the woman. "What's wrong?"

            "There is something," said Obi-Wan, "something over there."

            "Is it dangerous?" the woman said, placing her hand on the Jedi's arm. "Maybe you shouldn't go."

            Obi-Wan drew his lightsaber out of his belt. The blade illuminated the hallway with a strange, surreal light. It turned the Jedi Master's face the electric pastel color of the blade and cast light onto the woman's face. 

            _Padme_, Anakin realized. _I should have known. _

A speeder buzzed outside, the headlights inching along the corridor towards Anakin's hiding place. He stepped back as the light cast over the alcove, and he remained veiled in shadow. Obi-Wan's bearded face wore a look of intense concentration as he slipped the blade back into his belt. Padme placed her delicate hand on his shoulder again. "Obi-Wan," she said. "Come, whatever is there will stay there."

            "You don't know that for sure, though," said Obi-Wan, his brow furrowed. 

            "Obi-Wan," Padme insisted gently. "Come, don't worry." 

            The Jedi squinted one last time into the shadows before following Padme into one of the rooms off the corridor. As the door clicked shut Anakin stepped out of the shadows confidently, his black cloak trailing behind him as he walked the length of the hall. He held his head high like a proud lion, and he was as deadly as one. 

            Padme's fingers trailed along the doorknob as she shut it against the darkness. Obi-Wan flicked on one of the lights. The shadows recessed into the corners of the room against the glow. Obi-Wan stood in the center of the furnished chamber, an unsure look on his face. "There was something there, Padme," Obi-Wan said. "I felt it."

            "What was it?" Padme asked, not turning away from the door. Instead, she traced the inlaid carvings with her fingers. The buzz of Coruscant traffic became a faint background noise against this slight confrontation.

             "It was something evil…I think. It was not quite clear. It was almost half immersed in the Dark side but there was still some light shining through, which is why I could not tell exactly what it was. It was a living thing, but…I could not tell…" Obi-Wan's voice trailed off as he walked to the wide window and rested his hands on the metal sill. "I've always been able to tell before. But it was like the thing was behind a heavy shadow, to thick to penetrate but you could see through it slightly." 

            Padme followed the Jedi to the window and stood slightly behind him. Obi-Wan laced his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "I felt that it was dangerous," Obi-Wan admitted.

            "Don't worry," Padme murmured, lifting the beaded headpiece off her brown hair. "I'll protect you." Her lips curved into a graceful smile as her eyes seduced the practiced Jedi. Obi-Wan blinked in pleasant surprise, but the look was veiled a moment later. 

            "What about Anakin?" Obi-Wan said. Padme let out a harsh sigh and leaned her head against Obi-Wan's chest. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and traveled slowly down the bridge of her nose, finally dropping discreetly onto Obi-Wan's tunic. Anakin. The name conjured so many images in her head, images of fear and love and lust and uncertainty. 

            "I don't know about Anakin anymore," Padme murmured, pressing her face into Obi-Wan's chest like a little child hiding in her mother's skirts. Obi-Wan enveloped her in his arms.

            "You did marry him," Obi-Wan said, an amused tone in his voice. 

            "Oh, Obi-Wan, it's not funny!" said Padme, pulling away to look the Jedi square in the eyes. "Anakin is different then everyone else, he is like a shadow pulled in front of light and darkness and every moment is a moment of vagueness and doubt. Even the happy moments," Padme added in a whisper, staring out into space. "Even the happy moments, I could never tell."

            Obi-Wan stood in silence and quiet astonishment for a moment before pulling Padme back into his arms. "Don't worry my darling," Obi-Wan said, his words contradicting the anxious look in his eyes. However, Padme took the lies to heart and snuggled back up against her husband's Master, forgetting for a moment the danger that these trysts were causing. 

            Anakin stalked along the corridors of the building, keeping in the shadow. His eyes were deep in darkness now. His soul was a torrent of evil thoughts. If there was any goodness left within his dark soul, you could not see it now. 

            Anakin's wild eyes met those of every person he encountered, and he stared them down one by one as he passed them. His black cloak flowed behind him like a living thing, devouring the happiness and the light as he made his way to the hangar.

            A red, slim, speedy looking ship sat in the front of the hangar. Anakin hopped into it and blasted it out of the hangar using the Force. His knowing hands gripped the controls. Numerous phrases and words flew across his mind; memories of past pod races and the exhilaration of flying across the desert until it was night and the stars were pinpricks in the sky.

            He owned the darkness now. 

            Dangerous looking aliens fled the area as he entered a club. Neon signs glared from the walls. Anakin stretched out his hand and a glass of amber liquid flew to his hand. He drank deeply from it and then sat down at the bar. A scantily clad alien with purple skin and flowing hair eyed him fearfully from the other end of the bar. Anakin glared at her. The alien's breath became labored and she crumpled to the ground, slumping against the metal of the bar. 

            Anakin grinned, a silhouette of his old grin twisted into something sinister and new. He finished the drink and went back outside to his stolen vehicle. The lights from the top of the Temple glimmered mockingly in the distance. Anakin kicked the red ship, damaging the paint and rendering a long dent in the side. He spat and cursed and punched the air with his hand, causing the ship to fly off recklessly into the distance. Anakin breathed heavily. A faint feeling stirred in his heart and then seemed to die. 

            Anakin was angry and envious now of his Master. The lights of the Temple bore holes into his brain as he stood staring at them. They dulled the pale light of the stars and the moons and glared through the night, taunting him. Out of the mist his imagination formed Obi-Wan's face, for whom he held no pity. Then Padme's image swam before his eyes. A million emotions stirred within him as he looked at her face. Angry tears spilled out of his eyes and ran over his cheeks as he glared at the picture, trying to make it go away.

            But he knew it wouldn't disappear. He would love Padme for as long as he lived, but that didn't mean he couldn't be angry with her.  


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

            Padme rolled over in the bed, awake, though she chose to keep her eyes shut. The smooth silken sheets ticked lightly over her bare skin and her toes wiggled with pleasure. As her hair rolled over her shoulder she could forget for a moment why she was here, and why there was a faint fearful feeling nudging at her heart. _I don't want to be afraid. I don't want to remember. I only want to love…_

There was a movement behind her. Padme smiled, studying the bursts of color behind the lids of her eyes. Obi-Wan sighed and traced a pattern along her back. A giggle rose in Padme's throat but it was stifled as Anakin's face flashed before her eyes. No matter how hard they tried, they would never be able to get away from him, and still…Padme felt affection for him. No matter how far away they traveled she would never get away. 

            Padme silently slid out of bed, wrapping her bed sheet around her. Obi-Wan's hand hovered in the air, a perplexed look darting against his features, so boyish and yet so wise. Padme stifled a scream of frustration as her mind examined the trap she had been led into. And the person that had trapped her was none other then herself. She couldn't believe the mess she had made. She had married a man, and then secretly slept with another and whenever she was with one of them all she could think of was the other. _They haunt me like evil spirits_, Padme thought wildly, turning away from Obi-Wan's hurt gaze. _What have I done? _

            "Oh, Obi-Wan!" she cried, slumping down onto the bed. Obi-Wan eased his body closer until he pressed against her, although his arms stayed at his sides and failed to wrap themselves around her, bringing comfort and bliss until he had to go away.

            "I don't know what I've done," Padme said, her voice scratchy with fatigue and unshed tears. "I love you, Obi-Wan, but I also have some sort of feelings left for Ani and I suppose they'll never go away. Ever." Her voice sounded in quiet desperation, the voice of a woman that had made mistakes and was paying the imminent price. 

            Obi-Wan was silent, his soft breaths the only sound in the room. Padme closed her eyes and listen for a sound or a clue to his feelings. He exhaled softly and moved slightly, causing the bed sheets to rustle. He tapped his tongue on the roof of his mouth lightly. "Padme," he said calmly, "Listen to me."

            A sob clawed its way up Padme's throat as she gripped the sheet tightly around her. "I'm listening," she whispered, her voice cracking with sorrow.

            "You married Ani. I believe he did not force you into it," Obi-Wan said, turning Padme's face towards him with his hand. "Am I correct in that assumption?"

            Padme exhaled sharply. "We don't need to play games, Obi-Wan," she said, the old firmness and stability of her voice layered over sorrow and happiness.

            The smile faded off Obi-Wan's face and he paused before he continued. "You loved Anakin. I understand that, and I am not jealous. You know I know that I was not the only one," he said. "The marriage was a mistake," he whispered, stressing the last two words. "Jedi are not supposed to marry."

            "But we did," Padme said in a monotonous tone, seeing the scene all over again. She saw the sunlight glinting off the lake and casting an ethereal glow over the ceremony. "It was a mistake," she whispered.     

            Obi-Wan looked at her, an understanding feel in his eyes. "Everyone makes mistakes," he murmured. "This was just a big one.

            "But now you see," Obi-Wan continued, "some mistakes cannot be fixed so easily." His voice echoed Padme's sorrow. "I'll never completely have you, you see, firstly because I am a Jedi Knight, and secondly," here he paused, his breath softly stirring Padme's hair, "your body belongs to Anakin."

            The full realization of this infiltrated Padme's heart and made it beat painfully. The blood coursed through her veins, pushed by anger and distress. "I belong to Anakin," she whispered. The urge for tears was overwhelming but this time the Senator in her pushed the tears back. She was not made to cry. She was made to work and to overcome her problems like the royalty that she had once been. 

            Padme stood up and let the sheet drop from her body as she made her way across the room to grab her robe. She wrapped the soft material around her and tied it with a string as she walked to her mirror. As she twisted her hair into one of the complicated hairdo's of Naboo sovereigns, she caught Obi-Wan's gaze in the mirror. 

            _This is so wrong,_ Padme realized, her hands twisting her hair into the intricate knots and spirals. She threaded a gilded string through her hair and pinned it up. For a moment she saw herself as a young queen, before any of this had happened. _That's in the past now, _Padme said harshly to herself. _I am not Amidala anymore_.

            Padme stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. Silence filled the small room. Obi-Wan did not stir from his position on the bed. Slowly, dreamily, Padme's hand reached up to the ribbon holding her hair in place. She cocked her head at her reflection and studied it for a moment. Then with one savage movement, she ripped the ribbon out. 

            Pins sprayed across the room as she shook her hair out of the knots and curls. 

            She was not Amidala anymore.

            The wind whipped Anakin's hair, and the uncut strands fell into his eyes. His lips curled into a snarl and his eyes squeezed shut. For a moment he was back in the Temple, doing the old Force exercises. 

            At precisely the right moment Anakin leaped from the ledge and landed with a thud on a speeder. The cockpit flew open and he pushed the pilot out. The ship spiraled down and down towards the streets of Coruscant, and Anakin laughed wildly. At the last moment he pulled out and soared straight back up again, flying through busy intersections and ignoring the set street standards. He slammed down on the accelerator and zoomed towards the building that Obi-Wan and Padme where in now. It was conveniently located adjacent to the Jedi Temple. 

            Anakin took the lift up to their floor. Something inside of him was fearful. He was scared of himself. He laughed harshly as he stared out the transparent walls of the elevator. The city shrunk rapidly as he ascended into the night. 

            The doors slid open noiselessly. Anakin stomped down the corridor. He had no idea what floor he was on but he sensed that Obi-Wan and Padme were on the floor just above him. He stalked back down the hall to the lift just as its doors clicked shut. 

            "No!" Anakin roared at the descending machinery. He felt the dark Force gathering in his mind. A moment later the elevator came whirling back up. Anakin snickered. He was limitless. 

            To his surprise, there was someone in the elevator. 

            "Padme?" Anakin gasped, feeling like he had just been punched in the stomach. Padme stood on the elevator, surrounded with a fuzzy white light like some kind of vision. Padme squinted at him. 

            "Anakin?" Padme said.

            "Padme," Anakin gasped again. His eyes rounded and all the rage he had felt previously surged back up within him. As Padme stepped off the lift he slammed her into the wall. "Why did you do this to me?" he roared.

            "I'm not Padme," Padme said, her eyes fearful and pitiful. 

            "Who are you?" Anakin barked.

            "Anakin," Padme said, "I'm _Sabé_, remember me? Amidala's decoy? I came to visit her, I heard she was here." Sabé studied him curiously. "I did not know you were here, though." 

            Anakin sighed, staring at the handmaiden. "Sabé," he said. 

            "Yes, Anakin," Sabé said patiently. "I am Sabé." 

            Anakin stepped back and released Sabé from his grip. She smiled, but pain showed in her eyes as she rubbed the spot on her neck where he had grabbed her. "Sorry," Anakin spat emotionlessly. 

            "It's alright," she said, smiling shakily. "You have a death grip, though." She took a moment to study him. "Are you alright? You look different." Sabé laughed. "Although it has been years since I had last seen you. You're all grown up," she said, smiling kindly.

            "I've changed," he said.

            "I see," Sabé said, her eyes glowing with the happiness of finding a lost friend. "I've wondered about you, all these years. How have you been?" 

            "Good," said Anakin automatically. He wondered why he was letting the little boy in him speak. When Sabé was around he didn't feel the overwhelming evil feelings he had felt before. The dark Force crept back into the recesses of his mind and lay there, forgotten, for this moment. 

            "I've been home, in Naboo, with my family," said Sabé. Her gaze traveled down his body until it rested on his waist. She gasped and her hand reached out slightly. "You're a Jedi!" she said, her voice full of pleasure as her eyes raced to meet his. 

            "Yes," Anakin said darkly, fingering the hilt of the blade. The lights from the corridor bounced off it onto his black cloak, causing eerie designs to form on the material. Anakin let his cloak drop back in place, hiding the lightsaber from sight. 

            "I'm so happy for you," Sabé whispered pleasurably. "I remember when we were on the ship, so many years ago, this is what you wanted to do." Sabé nodded happily. "You left your mother for this," she whispered. A sad tone crept into her voice and she blinked up at Anakin, biting her lip slightly. 

            "My mother is dead," said Anakin. 

            Sabé inhaled sharply. "No," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

            _Why does she care?_ Anakin wondered. _She didn't even know Shmi_. Tears gathered in his eyes but he roughly wiped them away. He would not let anyone see him cry. 

            "I'm sorry," Sabé repeated, shifting uncomfortably. 

            "Don't be," said Anakin. An awkward silence filled the corridor. "Did all the handmaidens look this much like Padme?" Anakin asked finally. 

            Sabé seemed startled by his question. "All of us had resemblance to Amidala," Sabé explained, "but it was her and I that were mistaken for each other. We were best friends and sometimes, back in the palace before the invasion, we would play jokes on the servants." Sabé laughed, and her eyes glossed over, deep in memory. "Padme would dress in my tunic and I would put on her robes and then I would be queen for a day and no one ever noticed," Sabé said. "But then, there was the invasion and it was the real thing…and it wasn't fun anymore." 

            "Do you have a room here?" Anakin said after a pause. 

            "A room? Yes," Sabé said. An understanding look came into her eyes. "Do you need a place to stay?" she asked sympathetically. 

            "Yes," Anakin admitted. Sabé nodded unquestionably. 

            "Come with me," she said, taking his hand and leading him down the hallway. 


End file.
